In fact, the same thing has happened several times in the automobile industry. Toyota Reiz, Mitsubishi Lan Se Wing Shen, Volkswagen Scirocco and other models have been discontinued, and brands such as Fiat and Suzuki have gradually withdrawn from the China market. For people who like cars, it is not a voice that makes us cherish the present bell. Fortunately, many well-known models have achieved "nirvana" with the continuous development of technology, and this time the protagonist finally turned to Hummer, which is familiar to Chinese people.
"Save" Hummer passed us by.
20 10 On May 24th, due to the sluggish sales situation and increasingly strict emission standards, Hummer officially announced the suspension of production. Of course, this is a well-known thing, but in fact, before the official suspension of production was announced, GM had already made a "final struggle."
12 years ago, the annual sales volume of Hummer was 9046, which was about 87% lower than that of 7 1000 in 2006. With such a huge decline in sales, Hummer has become a heavy burden for GM. In June of the following year 1, GM filed for bankruptcy protection, only retaining Cadillac, Buick, GMC and Chevrolet, and selling or stopping production of other brands, including Hummer.
At this time, there are two choices before GM. One is to find the next "receiver" for Hummer, and the other is to stop production of Hummer and adopt the strategy of "long-term pain is better than short-term pain".
However, the rapid development of things has exceeded the expectations of the people who eat melons. The next day, June 2, Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industry announced that it had reached a preliminary agreement with General Motors on the sale of Hummer. Four months and six days later, an China man came to Southfield, Michigan, USA, and stood in front of a Hummer, holding one hand. The China native is Yang Yi, general manager of Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industry Machinery Co., Ltd., but it is not difficult to see that Kim Taylor, former CEO of Hummer, is happier than him.
GM is serious about getting rid of Hummer. Even in the memorandum of understanding published on June 3, the relevant provisions show that if the acquisition is successful, Tengzhong Heavy Industry will acquire all the rights and interests of Hummer, a luxury off-road brand, as well as its executives and operation team. Although Gan Weiwen, president of General Motors (China) at that time, had clearly realized that Tengzhong's biggest obstacle to acquiring Hummer was that Tengzhong Heavy Industry had no automobile production qualification, GM did not think this was a big problem. At that time, public opinion generally believed that Tengzhong Heavy Industry might follow the example of Chery and SAIC to win over SAIC to solve the qualification problem.
But in fact, there is much more than this "wall" in front of GM. This wall is sincere and eager to sell, because we don't know whether Tengzhong Heavy Industry is "biting its teeth" or has no acquisition experience. The whole of Liu Cheng is quite amateur, and the project has not been declared in accordance with the Interim Administrative Measures for the Approval of Overseas Investment Projects, which leads to the failure of the audit. In order to escape the trial, there have even been different opinions, such as "only buying Hummer brand, not buying equity, not producing in China" and "obtaining the ownership of Hummer brand, trademark and trade name, the right to use specific patents necessary for producing Hummer car, and dealer channels". According to the lawyer at that time, Tengzhong Heavy Industry didn't even know what it wanted to buy. How could the Ministry of Commerce approve it?
From June, the final agreement was reached in 65438+ 10, but it was delayed to 65438+ 10 in the following year due to government approval. Finally, in February, the two sides announced that the acquisition plan was aborted, and this "farce" that lasted for more than eight months had to end. At this point, the acquisition has come to an end, and Hummer has not escaped the end of production suspension.
Gains and losses of electric Hummer
It must be said that with the gradual rise of electric vehicles, more and more models that have been discontinued have begun to adopt or rely on this technology to achieve "nirvana". Therefore, electric vehicles are an effective means to revive the "classics". Land Rover Defender, which will be listed in China soon, and e-Beetle, which was unveiled at the 20 19 Auto Show, are both products under the same concept.
Similarly, just as the Beetle represents the unruly guardian of Britain and the origin of German cars, Hummer also represents the specific automobile culture in a specific period and region, and is an indelible totem in the history of American cars. In fact, the electrification of Hummer is both reasonable and expected when other models are transformed.
Recently, a super bowl advertisement clip shot by General Motors for Hummer pickup truck came out, which was called "Silent Revolution". The whole short film shows that the newly revived Hummer pickup truck will be named Hummer? EV, as can be seen from the name, the new car will be driven by pure electricity. It is reported that the maximum power of the electric Hummer pickup truck will reach 735kW, and the torque on the wheel will be15591n m. Such horrible parameters will enable it to accelerate for 100 kilometers in 3 seconds, and it has the four-wheel drive function of highway and off-road.
In addition, according to the exposed headlight group and air intake grille, the air intake grille style still continues the seven-vertical and six-hole style of the previous fuel version, and six English letters of HUMMER are printed on every interval chrome-plated decorative board, which continues the family style without changing the unique identification information of Hummer models. At the bottom, the red logo of "GMC" is added to the bumper below.
The overall shape of the lamp group has not changed much, and it is still surrounded by chrome-plated inlays, but the interior of the lamp group has changed greatly, abandoning the halogen round lamp of 10 years ago and using the penetrating LED strip which is more sci-fi and can keep up with the times.
There is no doubt that the benefits of the birth of pure electric Hummer pickup are obvious. Hummer, which has the inherent impression of "gas tiger", has become a zero-emission electric vehicle in one fell swoop, which is more in line with strict emission standards, and the gain of pure electric drive can not be underestimated. Even such a 3-ton behemoth has a power performance comparable to super-running, just like combining Yao Ming and Messi, so the experience it brings to consumers must be quite impactful.
However, when Nike reproduces the shoes of classic retired stars, it will be appropriately reduced. Just like this pure electric Hummer pickup, there are some inevitable problems. Hummer became famous because it made a hero of the current situation. The off-road vehicle department and Hmmwv military vehicle (both predecessors of Hummer) became household names in people's minds through the "free publicity" of World War II and the US Army, which also laid the foundation for the later civil Hummer.
However, it is unlikely that the pure electric Hummer pickup truck will still "go its own way" today when modular production is prevalent and Land Rover Defenders switch to load-bearing bodies. Sure enough, according to official disclosure, the new car will be produced in Detroit Hamtrak factory, which has invested 3 billion yuan. The plan shows that the factory will only produce electric vehicles next year.
In the future, the pure electric Hummer pickup truck will be the first model born on the BEV3 electric platform, but it is not the only model. Another Cadillac pure electric SUV, 20 19 and 1, was unveiled at Detroit Auto Show, and will also be the products of this platform. It is worth mentioning that after this platform, more general brands with different styles will be born. It is foreseeable that in order to meet the application of GM's whole brand, the pure electric Hummer pickup truck will inevitably make some discounts on the original "personality".
▲ Electric pickup truck foreign media rendering
It should also be noted that the pure electric Hummer pickup truck model exposed this time-Hummer? EV is not a model owned by Hummer brand, nor does it represent the rebirth of Hummer brand, but a pure electric vehicle named Hummer under GM. From the consumer's point of view, as mentioned above, there will always be a "restored" side to the replica. However, from the general and business point of view, this approach is obviously more cost-saving, and it can attract consumers who are still worried about Hummer models without setting up another department.
The headline said: Overseas, there is actually more than one GM, including Tesla, Rivian, Atlis, Ford and many other companies. Among them, Ford, the traditional pickup truck giant, developed the pure electric F- 150 on June 30, 65438, and made its debut in the prototype. Beyond Ford, the most attractive electric pickup truck is undoubtedly the Cybertruck released by Tesla, and the acceleration time of 2.9 seconds for the top version is also very close to that of the pure electric Hummer pickup truck. The new car is expected to be delivered in 2020. Intriguingly, the launch time of pure electric Hummer pickup truck was in the autumn of 202 1, and such a similar launch time also made people look forward to its market performance.
In China, there are also signs of spring in the pickup market. In 20 19, the cumulative sales volume of domestic pickup trucks was 375,000, which was about 4.7% higher than that in 20 18, and it was quite eye-catching in the cold winter of the automobile market. And with the lifting of the ban on pickup trucks in some cities, the newly revised "Management Measures for the Recycling of Scrap Motor Vehicles" shows that pickup trucks will become a car market with great potential. Coupled with the annual Alashan "Heroes' Meeting" and other activities and events, it provides a good soil for pickup truck culture to take root in China. In line with the domestic new energy trend, it is believed that the electrification of domestic pickup trucks will become an inevitable trend in the future, and pure electric Hummer pickup trucks will become an indispensable member.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.